Support for the whole family

Rebecca and her family came to SNAP in June 2020. Her son, Thomas, had been diagnosed with ASD and ADHD and was not in school. Rebecca was constantly being told that Thomas was either too complex for the school to cope with, or not severe enough to access social and mental health services. Thomas had lost trust with adults, developed significant social phobia, and was extremely anxious and controlling at home. He couldn’t go anywhere, join any home education groups or extra-curricular activities because of his anxiety. The family felt completely alone and rejected by the services that were supposed to help. With their family at a crisis point, Rebecca reached out. “Feeling lost, overwhelmed, and exhausted, I contacted SNAP. From my first contact, I felt they just got it.”

SNAP helped Rebecca through various meetings, getting the correct provision in place for Thomas, as well as coordinated support to help her complete all the necessary paperwork. “With them in our corner, it gave me confidence that someone was on our side, listening to us and our concerns and what we wanted, without their own agenda.”

“Mary supported me with our DLA renewal appeal. I wasn’t sure I had the energy to appeal the decision, but SNAP helped me and coached me through it and my son was awarded what is right!”

SNAP also set up a weekly individual session for Thomas which, because of his anxiety and needs, had to be carefully managed. After a few months of sessions, the family immediately started seeing a change. “He always comes out of his sessions relaxed and happy. One particular session sticks in my mind, when they made chocolate rice cake nests. He carried his box of cakes into the house and said proudly to his Dad and brother ‘Look at what I made at SNAP! It’s about a Happy Easter because SNAP is a happy place!’  I couldn’t agree more. My heart is filled with warmth seeing him laugh and smile when he is at SNAP.”

These weekly sessions benefitted the rest of the family too. Whilst Thomas was occupied and happy, Rebecca attended SNAP counselling and Thomas’s younger sibling enjoyed quality time with his father at home. Thomas’s sibling also attended SIBS4FUN, SNAP’s annual sibling support week, focused on making the young carers, brothers and sisters the centre of attention. Rebecca said, “SIBS4FUN has given my youngest the opportunity to be a child and play freely without worrying about triggering his autistic brother. Attending allowed him to feel special and be treated for being an amazing child and sibling. He came home beaming with happiness and self-confidence.”

More recently, Thomas has become much more comfortable with other adults, being more than happy for staff and visitors to walk through his session and say hello. He was even able to poke his head into a staff meeting to say hi; a feat that would’ve been impossible a couple of years prior.

“The sessions at SNAP have allowed him to start trusting adults again and we will be eternally grateful to SNAP for the compassion they show to our family. When I see the enjoyment in my son’s face when we talk about SNAP, I ask myself, what took me so long to get in touch with them? The SNAP team really are local heroes, and I can’t thank them enough for their support and warmth towards my family. We are never letting them go!”